Ireland day 14

     Just across the street from our hotel is Trinity College, home of the famous Book of Kells, a lavishly decorated manuscript of the four gospels written on calfskin around the year 800.  While there usually is a large crowd around the book (actually, there are four volumes), with time for each person to catch only a glimpse, this morning was different.  We happened to be at the entrance to the rare books area when the door opened, and I rushed through the first portions to arrive in the hallowed room, where there was only a guard present.  This allowed a long look at the two elaborately decorated pages and two pages of manuscript that were open to view under thick glass, as well as unhurried inspections of other books more than a thousand years old.  Upstairs, in the Long Room, built between 1712 and 1732, were 200,000 more of the library's oldest books.  More than 200 feet long, this gigantic room contains several floors of books, a number of the oldest on display in cases.  It was an amazing visit.

     An even more amazing visit followed.  Not far from Trinity College is the National Museum of Ireland's  archeology section.  This part of the museum (whose sections are scattered about the city) contains more than two million artifacts, and is a treasure trove of the history and prehistory of Ireland.  It contains stone tools of the first hunter-gatherers around 7000 B.C., bronze weapons of the Late Bronze Age around 500 B.C. , copper axes and daggers, shields, cauldrons and cast bronze horns (the earliest known Irish musical instruments), jewelry made from amber, glass and stone, wooden examples of shields, wheels and cauldrons, a 4,500-year-old log boat.  and an extensive collection of finds from Viking graves of the ninth and tenth centuries.  It contains the finest collection of Bronze Age and Iron Age gold artifacts in the world, as well as the most complete collection of medieval Celtic metalwork.  Here you can see the Ardagh Chalice, the finest piece of Celtic art ever found.  You can also see the famous Tara Brooch, made from white bronze, gold, silver, glass, copper, enamel and wire beading.  Do you feel like you have read this paragraph somewhere previously?

 National Museum, Archaeology Section

     We saw all of the aforementioned items this morning, since the museum is open on Tuesdays.  The gold collection of ancient pieces was incredible.  No matter where you have been or what you have seen, you would have been impressed by the size and quality of this collection.

Tara Brooch

Huge solid gold necklaces in the museum

     From the museum, we walked over the Patrick Guilbaud Restaurant, the only Michelin two star restaurant in Ireland.  Based upon our lunch experience there, we have no argument with Michelin.  We might have had an argument regarding the numbers on the tab, but what the heck--it was our last day in this great country.  What a fine meal!  Then it was across the river to the old Jameson distillery, where we had a guided tour of the old facility, founded in 1780.  Their Irish whiskey has been made by the same process since then, but actual production was moved to Middleton in the 1970's because the Guinness crowd controlled all the barley production around Dublin  for the making of beer.

Inside the old Jameson distillery

      At Jameson, they asked for volunteers at the beginning of the tour, and I was one of the 8 chosen for duty.   At the end of the tour the duty turned out to be serving as an unofficial sampler of the Jameson product and comparing it with samples of Johnny Walker Black and Jack Daniels.  Not wanting to embarrass Tricia, I didn't object when they poured several glasses with the various samples, and kept up with the rest of the volunteers admirably.  Or, it seemed pretty admirable to me by the end of the fourth glass.  I think it was four.  It could have been five.  Or maybe 6.  Whatever.  By the end of the drinking it seemed we would all be lifelong friends.  But suddenly, everyone seemed to have left the tasting area before we did, and outside, things had changed.  We kept looking for the bus stop, but it had apparently moved.  Several of the streets had relocated, as well.  Tricia was studying the map when we spotted the bus coming down whatever street; fortunately for us the driver recognized our situation immediately and did an unscheduled stop for us.  Now, in what other capital city in the world would a bus driver pull over, far away from a regular stop, and pick up a rider in an obvious state of confusion?  What a great country.

The Oliver St. John Gogarty

     That evening, it was time for some food and Irish music, so I tried to show Tricia a pub I had spotted the first day, which advertised live Irish music from one o'clock in the afternoon until two in the morning.  I knew for sure that you had to take a right just outside the front door of our hotel, then the second street to the right, and another right, and the place would be easy to spot.  But we kept taking right turns and never could find the place.  My companion was not amused.  So we went back to the hotel, where we were told to go across the street and turn left, and we would find the place.  We did.

Inside St. John Gogarty Pub

     When we arrived at the Oliver St. John Gogarty pub, open since 1835,  it was nearly empty, but within minutes two musicians appeared and the place filled up with music lovers and beer lovers.  We ate pub food and enjoyed the Irish music for a couple of hours.  We could have stayed until closing, but needed to get back and sob---I mean, pack--up for the trip home tomorrow.

     Before saying good night, I must share with you a few facts about Dublin,taken from the This is Dublin guide in our hotel room:

    In December 1759, Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000 year lease at an annual rent of £45  to build the Guinness here; the massive brewery still takes up quite a good section of the city.  Over ten million glasses are produced daily worldwide.

     George Frederic Handel gave the first performance of The Messiah here in 1742; the chair which he used is still housed in the Dublin Writers Museum.

     The remains of St. Valentine, the Patron Saint of Love, are contained in a church here.

     Lawrence of Arabia was born in Dublin; the novelist Bram Stoker who wrote Dracula worked in Dublin Castle as a civil servant in the 1870's.

     Ok, enough.  It's time to pack up and get some sleep before heading for the airport.  It has been an enjoyable and educational trip, and we highly recommend it to you--during the warm, dry season, of course.  Actually, even during the rainy season.  If you will be visiting here within the next six months, we have a European phone with lots of minutes left on it that we will be glad to lend you.  Just sent an email or call.  

     We hope you have enjoyed the reports as much as we have enjoyed researching, writing, and photographing for them.  The next faraway trip will be in October, when it will be challenging to report from places that have little or no Internet.  Goodnight for now; we hope to see you soon.

Charlie and Tricia

© 2012

Ireland day 13

     We bundled up in our overcoats, picked up the umbrellas, and went out to face another cold, rainy Irish day in Dublin.  Flowers are blooming in all the parks here; it must be the water, because it can't be the temperature.  It is so wet I live in constant fear my hearing aides will short circuit and electrocute both ears.  There are really only two seasons in this part of the world:  late fall, which lasts from September 1 until August 20, and early spring, which takes place during the rest of the year.  Don't blink, or you will miss it.

     One of us went shopping this morning, while the other wandered around trying to keep his mind off what the first person was doing.  We rendezvoused and walked over to the Shelbourne, a magnificent hotel build in 1824, where the Irish constitution was drafted the same year.  We had a reservation for high tea in the Lord Mayor's lounge (there is a debate going on in the city as to whether Dublin needs a Lord Mayor; they've had 342 of them over the past 800 years or so), and what a tea it was.  Good thing we had skipped lunch, even though the little sissy sandwiches they brought us were certainly not filling.  There was a choice of a hundred or so varieties of tea, and if you didn't like your first choice, the wait staff would be happy to bring you a different one--in solid silver, of course--and pour it for you, straining it through a dainty little silver strainer.

High tea at the Shelbourne

     While the sandwiches weren't filling, the triple decker silver serving trays of sweets did the trick.  There were two types of scones, clotted cream, strawberry jam, and petits fours of all descriptions.  We stuffed ourselves along with the other patrons, knowing this could be our only meal in Ireland served without at least two potato dishes.  I have put on at least 28 pounds, while Tricia is still as trim as ever.

     We waddled over to the National Museum of Ireland for an afternoon of browsing through the archeology section.  This part of the museum (whose sections are scattered about the city) contains more than two million artifacts, and is a treasure trove of the history and prehistory of Ireland.  It contains stone tools of the first hunter-gatherers around 7000 B.C., bronze weapons of the Late Bronze Age around 500 B.C. , copper axes and daggers, shields, cauldrons and cast bronze horns (the earliest known Irish musical instruments), jewellery made from amber, glass and stone, wooden examples of shields, wheels and cauldrons, a 4,500-year-old logboat.  and an extensive collection of finds from Viking graves of the ninth and tenth centuries.  It contains the finest collection of Bronze Age and Iron Age gold artifacts in the world, as well as the most complete collection of medieval Celtic metalwork.  Here you can see the Ardagh Chalice, the finest piece of Celtic art ever found.  You can also see the famous Tara Brooch, made from white bronze, gold, silver, glass, copper, enamel and wire beading.

     We could have seen all those wonderful items, too.  But today is Monday.  In Ireland, it turns out, all the museums are closed on Mondays.  So we sat on the sheltered bench in front of the museum door, out of the rain, and contemplated how exciting a tour through the museum might have been.  Perhaps tomorrow.

 At the Gate Theatre

     We did board a bus for a windshield tour of the city, which took us past 1,000-year-old churches, government buildings, breweries, and pubs, and ended up at a stop near the famous Gate Theatre, where we had tickets for a play.  The Gate is in a building more than 250 years old, and is the place where Orson Welles and James Mason began their acting careers.  It is well known and appreciated for modern plays, and tonight was no exception.  The house was packed, on a cold, rainy Monday night (did we mention the weather here?).  We enjoyed an adaptation of Daphe du Maurier's My Cousin Rachel; you may remember the 1952 movie version of the book (we don't), in which Richard Burton made his acting debut.  The set, the actors, and the play itself were superb.  Remind us to watch the movie when we return home.

     Tomorrow, another run at the museum and whatever else comes up during our last day in Ireland.

Charlie and Tricia

© 2012

Ireland day 12

     It was another blue sky, sunny day in Ireland.  We enjoyed the sunshine as we drove away from Galway and toward the Burren (Boireann in Irish, meaning "great rock"), an area of exposed limestone that has weathered in an unusual way.  They have named the series of rocks with criss-crossing cracks "grikes", and the isolated rocks created by the cracks "clints".  While nothing much can grow on the clints, there is plenty of vegetation in the grikes, and it is said that 75% of the wildflowers native to Ireland grow in the Burren.  From a distance, the limestone appears barren, as you may discern from a photo of a mountainside with one of the famine walls.

Famine wall in the Burren

     The blue skies here in Ireland just take your breath away.  This is one of the sunniest countries you can imagine.  We haven't had a drop of rain in days, it seems.  It's hard to understand why there are so many shirts for sale in the souvenir shops showing all four seasons as rainy, rainy, rainy, and rainy.

Dunguaire Castle

     On our drive today, we saw so many ruins of old castles, abbeys, and forts that it would take several days to describe them all.  Dunguaire Castle, for example, was built in 1520 by the O'Hynes clan atop a rock outcropping on the shores of Galway Bay.  Ballyportry Castle (below) is a complete Medieval Gaelic tower house built in the 15th century, which has been completely restored.  It has six bedrooms and three bathrooms, and the current owners will be glad to have you and your friends spend a couple of nights here for 1400 euros during the summer.  If you have an extra $1,8000.00 or so lying around, we would love to have you impress us with such a stay.

Ballyportry Castle

     Our travels along the back roads led us to the most magnificent stretch of coastline in the country, the Cliffs of Moher.  Rising vertically more than 600 feet above the sea, these sheer cliffs take your breath away--particularly if you are brave enough to climb over the fence, crawl up to the edge, and look straight down at nothing but blue water.  Erosion of the rock far below results in a sort of ledge effect, and you can't see the side of the cliff without jumping off.  We do not recommend this practice.  Atop one area of the cliffs is O'Brien's tower, built in 1835 by a local landlord as a viewing area for the visitors who were, even then, flocking to the area to see these cliffs.

O'Brien's Castle atop the Cliffs of Moher

     To give you some perspective of the scene, O'Brien's castle is pictured below, atop one of the cliffs in the background.  A foot or so behind us the grim reaper awaits.

At the Cliffs of Moher

     Heading back east, we visited the Poulnabrone Portal tomb, constructed of limestone slabs more than 5,000 years ago.  On the Burren's karst landscape, archaeologists have discovered the remains of more than 30 people on this site, and tools and other implements date it to between 4,200 and 2,900 B.C.  Stonehenge, you remember is dated as far back as 2,300 B.C.  Perhaps if the Irish would surround the Poulnabrone Portal with as much mystery as Stonehenge, more tourists would flock to the site.  But then again, why would they choose Poulnabrone over the many other Irish sites that date back to the neolithic age?

Poulnabrone Portal

     We can't resist the temptation to leave you with just one more of the many castles we saw along the roads in Ireland.

Lemaneh Castle

     The multi-gabled manor house, Lemaneh Castle, was built in 1648 by an infamous woman known as Red Mary, for her flaming red tresses, and her second husband, Conor O'Brien.  The unexplained death of her first husband at a young age left her with a substantial estate and a pile of cash, which she and Conor used to build the most magnificent structure in the area at the time.  Conor made the mistake of joining the fight against Cromwell's army, and was killed in battle.  Red Mary, reading the tea leaves, could see her fine estate being seized by the English in retribution for her husband's foolishness, so she took a Cromwellian soldier to be her husband, and lived happily ever after.  The castle, unfortunately, has not fared so well over the last 350 years, as you can see from the photo.


     After a drive all the way across the country, we arrived in Dublin, where we have checked in at the Westin.  We covered 1828 kilometers in our Skoda using less than two small tanks of fuel, and are ready to see the sights here.  We met a Canadian couple at dinner tonight; the husband told us how much he loved to visit the U.S. and put a lot of one dollar bills in his billfold.  That way he could pretend to have a lot of money and be almost absolutely broke.  Little did he know what a lecture that comment would provoke.  If you would like to know how crazy it is to continue printing dollar bills, give me a call in a few days, and I will be happy to tell you.


     The dinner was nice, but we were disappointed (at least, one of us was disappointed) to learn the restaurant was out of the Bailey's & brown bread ice cream.  It almost made you want to order a double of the Tia Maria flavor to make up for the loss.  But one of the other people at our table for two gave a look that spoke volumes and I only had one scoop of it.  If you are ever eating at the Millstone Restaurant in Dublin, you really should try the Tia Maria ice cream; and if there is dry ice available, I'll pay to have you ship back some Bailey's & brown bread.

Charlie and Tricia

© 2012

Ireland day 11

     We awoke to a cloudless, blue sky this morning.  We had decided to take a commercial tour of the Connemara area to the northwest of Galway, because our guide book had no information about the historic structures and we were looking for more detailed information than what appears on the signs along the way.  So we hopped onto a tour bus and headed northwest out of Galway.

 Ross Errily Friary

     Our first stop was at Ross Errily Friary, a 14th Century Franciscan friary which we were told is the most extensive and best preserved of all the Franciscan friaries in Ireland.  For all we know, of course, this could be one of only two Franciscan friaries in Ireland.  Or maybe it’s the only one (note to file:  Google Franciscan abbeys in Ireland).  But it is an imposing structure out in an open field, with enough rooms to house a small village of monks.  It is located about a mile northwest of Headford, not too far from where the first transatlantic flight, from Newfoundland, landed on June 15, 1919.  Can you name the two British pilots who were in the plane?  You didn’t think Lindberg was the first, did you?

      A short time later, we passed by the Glebe stone circle and Ballymagibbon Cairn, which date from the neolithic period.  Cairns, as you know, were stone structures built on top of a number of graves; and this one is truly ancient.  The stone circle still holds the same type of mysteries as Stonehenge, but is said to be much older.  By the way, choosing a bus tour means that you have no choice about photographs or stopping points, so you will have to imagine the scene.

     At the village of Cong we stopped for a spot of tea and a visit to the place that John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara made famous while filming scenes from the movie The Quiet Man.  To capitalize on a movie made in 1952 takes some real effort 60 years after the event, but every establishment in town has joined in the promotion.  There's The Quiet Man Hotel, The Quiet Man Gift Shop, the Quiet Man Bar--even The Quiet Man Museum.  And you can walk across the very same bridge as John Wayne did, so many years ago.  We avoided all of those to explore the Cong Abbey.  Rebuilt in the 13th Century, it is a fine example of early Irish architecture.  While browsing through the cemetery, I discovered, based on a reading of the tombstones, that no male could be buried there unless his name was Michael, Thomas, or Patrick.

13th Century Cong Abbey

      Speaking of Patrick, among the many interesting historical vignettes provided by our guide was the  reminder that Patrick was kidnapped in Scotland when he was a boy and sold into slavery in Ireland, which, like the rest of the world north of France, was a pagan and druid area  He escaped after five years and was taken to France on a ship around the year 401, where he studied and entered the priesthood.  He returned to convert the people to Christianity, using the three leaf clover to help explain the concept of the Trinity.  He did such a good job of it that the church decreed him a saint, and his clover became the national symbol, the shamrock.  And now you know: the patron saint of Ireland was not Irish, but a Scotsman.

     We drove alongside Lough Nafooey, the largest lake in Ireland at 44,000 acres and 35 miles long, and then went over to view the only fjord in the country.  We saw the fields of carefully cut peat drying out, to be used for heating in the local homes.  And we saw grim reminders of the potato famine.  First was a famine wall.  Our guide reminded us that the British were occupying Ireland at the time of the famine, and the implication was clearly that it might not have happened without their presence.  The Irish people had had all their land stolen and given to British landlords; the people then had to rent their land from the landlords and pay them rent in potatoes or other crops.  With the potato blight destroying all the potatoes, the rent was paid in corn, leaving nothing for the people to eat.  The British government then provided menial jobs for them to survive, among which was the construction of walls that went to nowhere and served no useful purpose.

Famine wall in Connemara

     We visited a small graveyard where the peasants were buried after starving to death, several persons to a hole.  There are no headstones--only a rock marking the fact that there is a grave.  The landlords decided they were not making enough money off the peasants, so they instituted a tax on windows.  When the tax man came around to collect, he found the windows had been sealed up and no tax was due.  Take a close look at this abandoned ruin and you can see three windows that have been sealed with rock:

Eliminating windows during the potato famine

   We passed by the Twelve Bens Mountains, beautiful valleys, waterfalls, and other historic sites.  But the most fascinating of the day was the Kylemore Abbey.  When Mitchell and Margaret Henry came to Cannemara for their honeymoon, they fell in love with the area.  Several years later, Mitchell returned and bought 13,000 acres of land to build a castle and gardens, which he completed in 1871.  With 33 bedrooms and 70 rooms altogether, it must have been the talk of Ireland--not to mention the 300,000 native and non-native trees he had planted on the property.  But the love of his life contracted a disease while visiting Egypt and died in 1874.

Kylemore Abbey

     Mitchell never remarried.  He built a miniature neo-gothic cathedral on the property as a monument to Margaret, who is buried in a mausoleum nearby.  King Edward II visited here in 1902, and was rumored to be interested in a purchase; but he was later quoted as saying, "Kylemore is too expensive for a king."  Mitchell sold the property in 1903 to the Duke and Dutchess of Manchester, but the Duke's gambling addiction caused him to lose it to the bank, which sold it to the Irish Benedictine Nuns from Belgium, who still occupy the castle as an abbey.  Portions of the interior have been restored to their original glory.  It was a visit we won't soon forget.

  Mini-cathedral at Kylemore

     Tomorrow we leave for Burren, the cliffs of Moher, and Dublin.  But we promised to try to get you photos of some of the Galway hookers.  I believe we told you there was even a Galway Hooker beer, which is brewed and served only locally.

At a pub in Galway

     Although we were unable to capture any hookers on camera, we just discovered that part of their story was inadvertently omitted the other day, so here it will be reprinted with the missing paragraph:


     One thing you immediately notice here is the number of hookers.  County Galway has more hookers, in fact, than the rest of Ireland combined.  You see them everywhere along the rivers and coast, and nearly all the Galway hookers are black.  There are even four classes of Galway hookers, which local sailors can distinguish easily.  You are probably not interested in the distinctions, but you would surely be fascinated by the hookers.  They are beautiful, in their own way.  In fact, tourists come here from all over Ireland just to experience one.  We will try to take some photos of them over the next couple of days.

      The hookers are easily identified by their black bottoms and usually reddish-brown sails.  They are black because of the pitch used to coat the outside to keep the water out.  The four classes are based on their size, rigging, and outfitting for fishing.  These sailboats were originally built for use in the shallow Galway Bay waters, and were often swamped in higher seas.  But they have made a comeback here.  Those of you who are familiar with Boston hookers, or paddy boats, may be interested in the fact that they were originally built by Irish immigrants who remembered the design from their homes in Galway.


     Our sincere apologies to those who did not get the rest of the story the first time through.  We will try to handle things better in the future.  By the way, you might have noticed the blue sky in some of the photos.  We only had a few showers and one brief hailstorm during today's tour.  Later, Freddie at our B&B told us that a couple of years ago it rained for 9 straight months here; he said the waterfalls were fantastic.  It's time to move on to the Burren, cliffs of Moher ("mow her), and Dublin.


Charlie and Tricia


© 2012

Ireland day 10

View from our window at Seabreeze Lodge B&B

     This morning we heard a fellow named Cotton Malone was signing autographs at the famous Kenny's Bookshop, the largest such place in Ireland, and perhaps in Europe.  With more than half a million books in stock and access to millions more, it would have been worth a stop.  But Kenny's had moved to a new location northeast of Galway, and our B&B was well southwest of the city, and we had a ferry to catch.

     At breakfast, I had understood our proprietor Freddie to say that the ferry to the Aran islands was just 5 minutes away.  But what he apparently said was that we had just five minutes to leave, and to do so without delay.  About 30 minutes later he knocked on the room door and was surprised to find us inside relaxing.  He quickly explained the 30km route to the ferry dock and told us we could barely make it if we hurried.

     Have you ever wondered why traffic moves slowest when you have the greatest need to speed?  Or why the narrowest, curviest roads are always located in a place where they most need to be straight and wide?  Every slow driver in the area was on the road to the ferry dock this morning.  It was a moderately tense drive to the dock.  Really.  There was almost no screaming about why someone had to go back to the room for sunglasses, or why someone couldn't hear or understand basic information at breakfast.

   In any case, we made it to the ferry with two minutes to spare, and we were soon underway on seas that the captain had earlier described as "so smooth you could almost walk across".  After a 45-minute crossing, we had arrived at Inis Mor, the largest of the three Aran Islands.  We immediately chose a guide named Thomas O'Toole to show us the island.  He kept us entertained while educating us about the island's history during a tour of the entire island.

Thomas O'Toole and friend

     Thomas first pointed out what he said was the church where he worships regularly.  He worships there every evening.  He says many of the 750 residents of the island believe he lives there.  The sign outside said American Bar, but he told us no American had ever owned the bar.  He said that sometimes after services that last into the night at the American Bar, you can actually see leprechauns outside.  He has seen as many as six of them at one time, and once saw two Polish leprechauns after several pints during such services.

    We saw miles of stone walls, some of them thousands of years old, as well as abandoned churches, ancient wells, and two of the three island forts.  Dun Aengus, at which we spent quite a bit of time, is at least 2,000 years old, and is perched on the edge of a stone cliff that drops vertically about 200 feet into the sea.  There are no protective railings here, and you can literally walk off the edge of the cliff if you aren't careful.  Thomas claims this area is the island's divorce court--you just take your spouse up there after one of the aforementioned church services, and give a little push.  He also claims they are thinking about building a 50,000-year-old fort so the tourists will flock here to help the local economy.

Dun Aengus fort on Inis Mor

     Thomas also said you can see Boston from the fort on a clear day.  He actually spent some time in Boston, and claimed to have tried out every religious institution in the city while serving in the U.S. Navy.

 Edge of disaster at Dun Aengus fort

 Cliffs at Inis Mor

     We were  impressed by the beautiful coastline and dramatic stone cliffs dropping into the sea.  Taking some of the photographs took a lot of nerve, as you had to place your self within a foot of certain death to get some good ones.  Thanks to Tricia for most of these!

Aran Islands coastline

     We heard a lot of Irish, or Gaelic, spoken on the island.  In fact, it is truly the native language here.  We are told it is a status symbol for wealthier Irish families to send them to special schools to learn the language.  There are several villages on the island, some with 10 or fewer people living in a village.  We heard a number of tales about goings-on, but will not repeat them here.  It was a nice, leisurely island trip.  And the honeycomb ice cream from the local shop was truly delicious.

    

     We didn't have time to go into town to take photos of some of the Galway Hookers yet, but I can report that the beer named for them is very good.  Two brothers bought the brewery several years ago and had to replace all the equipment.  They are determined to provide an alternative to Guinness, and seem to be doing a good job of it.  I had a small glass of Galway Hooker beer, and wish it came in bottles so I could take some home.

     You may have noticed the blue sky in the photos of today.  A miracle has occurred.  We only went through a few rain showers today, none of them in the Aran Islands.  If this keeps up, I may have to tone down the wet weather comments.

     We hope to report on the Connemara region tomorrow.

Charlie and Tricia

 
© 2012

     

Ireland day 9

     Our second splurge night, spent in Adare Manor, made us feel like the Third Earl of Dunraven, who was here when the main building was completed in 1862.  The Second Earl of Dunraven, whose wife, Lady Caroline, had convinced him to build it to give him something to do other than suffer from gout, started the construction in 1832.   The massive structure has 52 chimneys to commemorate the weeks of the year, 79 fireplaces, and 365 leaded glass windows.  It was purchased by Thomas and Judy Kane of Summit, New Jersey, in 1987, and completely restored to its original splendor.  They have even added an indoor swimming pool, Robert Trent Jones Sr. golf course, and numerous other buildings on the carefully landscaped 840 acres.  Many of the world's rich and famous have slept here, including such stars as Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones.  It appears that no one recognized Charlie and Tricia during their visit.

Adare Manor during a brief moment of blue sky

   One room in the manor is the second longest banquet hall in Ireland, at 136 feet.  With 23-foot ceilings and 17th century Flemish choir stalls at one end of the room, it is based partly on the hall at Versaille.   One wall is paneled with carved episodes from the Bible, and the opposite wall contains a series of enormous fireplaces.  We met a lady there who said she had attended a wedding feast in the room last year.  She did not invite us to any future such celebration.

    

     A very interesting memorial is located on the grounds, dedicated to the memory of Irish-born soldiers who gave their lives in the Vietnam War.  Here is what the dedication plaque says:

     If you look closely at the entire memorial, though, you might think Mr. and Mrs. Kane were making a political statement:

Veterans Memorial at Adare Manor

     We had a leisurely morning stroll in Adare, viewed the historic sites there, and headed up for Galway, where we will be spending the next three nights.  On the way, we passed by the ruins of the 13th Century Desmond Castle alongside the river north of town.

Thatched roof home in Adare

Desmond Castle on the Maigue River

We finally filled the tank on the Skoda.  After 950.8 kilometers (590.8 miles), the tank held 46.35 liters (12.24 gallons).  Assuming the car had a full tank when we picked it up—an assumption we find risky when dealing with rental cars—that works out to 48.3 miles per gallon overall.  Not highway mileage; combined mileage.  A great deal of the mileage was up and down hills, stop-and-go traffic inside cities and towns, and idling. Highway mileage must be well over 50 mpg.  The car is slightly smaller than a Toyota Camry, has a large trunk, room for five, diesel engine, great acceleration, and stylish appearance.  Brian and Joel, get to work on that U.S. franchise.  We need to set up a visit to the factory in the Czech Republic.

     On the way to Galway, our Lonely Planet guide book informed us that "Galway is a very rainy city, even by Ireland standards."  The book did not inform us that Galway sometimes has hail in April.  But having experienced hail around three o'clock this afternoon in Galway, we may inform you that God has found one more way to keep the fields green here.  By the way, did we mention that it is very cold in Ireland?

    Galway (Gaillimh to you speakers of Irish), with its 75,000 residents, is the third largest city in Ireland.  Like other places and persons, it has a nickname.  The City of Tribes, so called because of the 14 tribes of merchants who once ran the place, is located along the River Corrib, not far from the ocean.  It had its origin as a fort built in the 12th century, which you will recall seemed to be the way of all towns back then.  But in the Norman invasion in the 1230’s, the city was captured, and it eventually was completely taken over by the invaders, who were downright un-neighborly with the surrounding Irish.  A sign over the west gate into the city, for example, proclaimed, "From the Ferocious O'Flahertys may God protect us".  A local ordinance forbid the Irish unrestricted access into the walled city without permission.

     One thing you immediately notice here is the number of hookers.  County Galway has more hookers, in fact, than the rest of Ireland combined.  You see them everywhere along the rivers and coast, and nearly all the Galway hookers are black.  There are even four classes of Galway hookers, which local sailors can distinguish easily.  You are probably not interested in the distinctions, but you would surely be fascinated by the hookers.  They are beautiful, in their own way.  In fact, tourists come here from all over Ireland just to expericnce one.  We will try to take some photos of them over the next couple of days. 

     We went into town to explore the historic district, and ate in one of the local pubs after Tricia was talked into doing an interview for a documentary comparing first world and third world educational opportunities.  After dinner, we were pulled into Gino's Homemade Italian Gelato, which had quite a selection in two separate display cases.  Tricia had the banoffy pie, and I had the ambrosia flavor.  Tricia shared some of hers with me.  Both flavors were a fitting end to the day.

Mr. Murphy's Galway establishment

Caught in the act at Gino's

Charlie and Tricia

© 2012

Ireland day 8

     We awoke to the usual rain this morning, and headed over the the Muckross House, the focal point of Killarney National Park.   Building of this mansion began in 1839 and took four years to complete.  The principal rooms are furnished in period style and portray the elegant lifestyle of the 19th century landowning class.  During the 1850's, the owners undertook extensive garden works in preparation for Queen Victoria's visit in 1861.   Those gardens were expanded over the years, and now they are a real showcase.  We walked through a huge area of flowers and huge trees of every variety imaginable.

Muckross House in Killarney

Tulip in the rain at Muckross House

 

     After Muckross, we headed for the Dingle Peninsula, said to be among the country's most beautiful areas. It initially appeared we were going to have one of those 50-50-100  days again.  You know:  50 degrees, 50 mph winds, and 100% chance of rain all day.  But the sun actually came out for several hours and we encountered blue skies along the route (the 50-50 part remained with us).  We drove along the magnificent coastline, stopped in Dingle for a nice meal, and toured an area of extreme western Ireland known as Slea Head.  Rather than bore you with the details, we decided to thrill you with Tricia's photos and bore you with miscellaneous observations we've made while touring.

Fields on the Dingle Peninsula

     The main factors that make Ireland so green are (a) the huge amount of sheep dip and cow paddies deposited onto the grass daily, and (b) the fact that droughts have not been invented here.  It rains every day.  Based on what we have observed so far, a day of blue sky and sunshine would create a general panic in the country.  “The End is Near” signs would spring up everywhere.  There is so little sunlight that natives’ skin is almost pure white.  No wonder there are ghost tours in every town.  Seeing these people at night would make you think there are ghosts everywhere.  We’ve only seen one solar water panel so far; it must have been on the roof of the local Optimists Club.

Try passing on these roads!

     Some of the back roads here are so narrow there is no room to paint a centerline.

 Dingle Peninsula coast

     There is no crime in Ireland.  We know this because of the fact that there are no wall safes in the hotels and B&B’s.  There are no warning signs to be careful of your personal belongings.  The only policeman we have seen so far stopped to ask if we were tourists.  He had to ask repeatedly if we were following the gulf.  We could not understand which gulf he was talking about until he said, “You know, the Master’s!")

     Ireland has more than its fair share of clouds.

 Beautiful beaches along Slea Head

      Beaches here are about as useful as ski slopes on Tahiti.  But they really are pretty.

     Signs here are in two languages:  Irish and English.  Irish is always on top, which is the first hint of what they think of the English, who once made speaking Irish a crime and forced the English language on the people here.  Irish, or Gaelic, is still spoken in a few areas, and is the native language of residents of the Ring of Kerry, the Dingle Peninsula, and  the Aran Islands, which we hope to visit.

     A souvenir shirt in one of the shops here showed the four seasons in Ireland.  Above each season was a picture of a sheep with an umbrella, standing in the rain.

7th Century Gallarus Oratory on Slea Head

     Maria sent us a message after our first breakfast report, saying, “Do NOT look up the ingredients for white pudding and black pudding.  Do NOT.”  So naturally, having tried them at our first breakfast sitting, we had to look up the ingredients.   We found a company whose advertising informed us that the pudding is high in iron, contains no artificial additives or preservatives and is low in fat.  Looking further (this is not high on the Google search list), we find the truth about the ingredients of black pudding:  fresh pig's blood, bread, skimmed milk, cooked barley, fresh beef suet, fine oatmeal, salt, ground black pepper, and dried mint.  Assuming the ingredients are listed in order of the amount used,  we will henceforth restrain ourselves when offered this delicacy.  We will not bother to look up white pudding.

     If you come to Ireland without an umbrella, you’d better plan on staying inside.

Near the western tip of Europe

     Our rental car is a Skoda, made in the Czech Republic.  Having never heard the name before, we were afraid that it might have been Russian.  But it is a decent size, comfortable, rides well, has great diesel engine power, and gets incredible gas mileage.  The rental agent said we might not have to top the tank the entire trip.  We have driven over 700 kilometers, and the fuel gauge has just dipped below half a tank.  Note to Joel and Brian:  you might want to look into the possibility of getting a Skoda franchise for the entire United States.

     The weather report on TV each night here shows either a cold front or a warm front coming through, with rain expected over the entire country.  It appears they have prerecorded these reports, and just alternate playing them over and over.

Murphy's Pub in Dingle

     There is an indecently wealthy man who lives in this country, by the name of Murphy.  He owns a pub in nearly every village, town, and city.  He also owns a chain of B&B's.

      If anyone has an Irish dictionary, please let us know if the words "drought" and "dry" appear there.

 Murphy's B&B in Dingle

      “Clean” diesel fuel here is cheaper than unleaded gas. At 1.59 euros per liter, that works out to about $8.20 per gallon for diesel.  Unleaded is about 50 cents more.  There are fair numbers of bicycles out on the highways in Ireland.

     If you claim you once saw four straight days of blue sky here, you can earn an honorary lifetime membership in the local Liars Club.

 Murphy's Ice Cream Shop in Dingle

     While Tricia was taking photos in Dingle, I added a small amount to Mr. Murphy's fortune by trying out a couple of scoops of his Irish cream liqueur flavor.  It was light on the Irish, heavy on the cream, and had just enough of a hint of liqueur to make you want to go back for more.  But then Tricia walked up and we decided to head for Adare for the night.

 View from our bedroom at Adare Manor

     In Adare, we are splurging for the second (and last) time during this trip.   We'll tell you more about Adare Manor tomorrow, and for now will just mention the dessert one of us enjoyed in the dining room tonight:  buttermilk pannacotta with poached spring rhubarb and gingerbread ice cream.  That last ingredient was just unimaginably delicious.

Charlie and Tricia

© 2012